BEFSR41 IPv6

I have been reading recently that there will be a 24 hour test will occur on June 8, 2011 of IPv6 by Facebook, Yahoo!, Google, Akamai, etc. I have also been reading that IPv4 is practically gone. With this in mind it is only a matter of time before the change to IPv6 becomes permanent.

I am concerned as to whether or not BEFSR41 v4.3 firmware version 2.00.4 will support IPv6 or if I am going to have to buy a new router. If I do have to buy a new router what should I buy so I dont waste my money again?

Re: BEFSR41 IPv6

1. Your computer is able to use IPv6 without your router supporting it. If you set up IPv6 on your computer you can set up tunneling for IPv6 in IPv4.

2. It's still a long way until all ISPs will fully support IPv6. It won't be a change happening on one day. It will be a longer transitions and your ISP will most definitively support you in the transition, i.e. supporting people using IPv4 as long as necessary and supporting IPv6 for those who switch.

3. Eventually, you'll need a new router for best performance and avoid unnecessary tunneling. However, I wouldn't buy a new router because of IPv6 NOW. It's far too early. There will probably be two or three or even more generations of routers before IPv6 really becomes mainstream to the general end customer.

Thus: I wouldn't make a buying decision based on IPv6 support at this time. You could well buy a router on which you'll never be able to use IPv6 because your ISP doesn't support it before you replace that new router again...

Re: BEFSR41 IPv6

Then call Linksys support. They only know their plans. Maybe they will add it to your model. Maybe not and it's only supported on newer models.

Again: until the time when you MUST use IPv6 on your computers to get a working internet connection it's still a long time to go.

I don't know which OS you use, but WIndows, Mac, and Linux all support IPv6 tunneling. Actually, Windows is setup for tunneling automatically through a Microsoft server. If you use IPv6 on a Windows computer now and it's not connected to a IPv6 network directly it goes through Microsoft...

@gv: as to needing IPv6, well it is a bit of gray area. It may be a good while before we need IPv6 exclusively, but by the end of the year we are likely to see new web sites in Asia and Africa that will only be accessible by IPv6. This means that if you want to access those sites you will need some sort of IPv6 connectivity, whether it is natively by ISP or via a tunnel provider. As for any site that already has an IPv4 address, well you have nothing to worry about.

Tunneling solutions that exist include Teredo, Sixxs.net and Hurricane electric. There are others, but if connecting from a PC behind a NAT then these solutions support NAT traversal. Ideally, of course, this would be handled by the router.

Re: BEFSR41 IPv6

Just wanted to mention that Most ISPs support IPv6 right now and are only waiting on manufacturers like linksys to support it.

Once common equipment supports IPv6 the ISPs will start handing out addresses. I am the admin for a small isp in New Mexico and we already support IPv6, customers only need to ask so we can help them get around there router issues for now.